After the breakup of Italian progressive metal band Moonlight Comedy-who made two great albums; The Life Inside (2004) and Dorothy (2007)-founder, guitarist and main writer Simone Fiorletta- who also is responsible for three stunning instrumental albums, Parallel Worlds (2005), My Secret Diary (2007) and When Reality Is Nothing (2009)-started his next prestigious project under the name of No Gravity. Simone invited some of the genre's highest regarded vocalists and wrote his songs around their individual vocal styles. For the instrumentalists, he wanted to hold on to a regular band situation, that he can perform his music live on stage with. This band consists of second guitarist Davide Perruzza, keyboardist Andrea De Poali, bassist Andrea Casali and drummer Marco Aiello. For the nine songs on this album, the following vocalists lend a helping hand; Emiliano Germani (Moonlight Comedy) on songs 1, 5, 8, 9, Mark Basile (DMG) on song 2, Andy Kuntz (Vanden Plas) on song 3, Fabio Lione (Rhapsody (Of Fire) on song 4, Michele Luppi (Vision Divine) on song 6 and Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth) on song 7. With names like those above, there is only one genre we can expect: this is progressive power metal of a very high level. Right from the start you can feel the power of Simone's previous band, Sailing On Sight which has the majestic vocals of lead vocalist Emiliano Germani. This eight and a half minute song has a tremendous guitar at the start, followed by some impressive double bass drumming, subtle keyboards in the back and plenty of breaks and little showcases for Simone's guitar work. Continuing with The Killer, the next vocalist enters the stage. Mark Basile's vocals have a thinner sound than Emiliano in the previous song, but the killer guitar riff is what stands out in this song. If you like it heavy, this riff is dirty, heavy and intriguing. My personal favourite of this album is the one with Andy Kuntz at the microphone. Can't Dream Anymore could be a song on a Vanden Plas album; a bit more prominent keyboards than before, but the guitar is a bit more forward than the guitar in Andy's normal band. Still an adventurous and challenging song, played very well. Another vocalist I highly regard is Fabio Leone, well known for his vocals for the fairy-tale metal band Rhapsody (Of Fire). Voices From The Past suits him well, the variation of the faster heavy stuff, combined with the almost spoken parts, really sound great. Simone created a background with majestic keyboards and furious guitar for this great vocalist. The first notes of Religious Beliefs, could have been played by Tool, but the guitar turns it in another direction, although those references return in this song. Emiliano is the lead vocalist again and this time the direction is set toward a combination of progressive metal and heavy modern rock/metal music in the vein of Korn. Again a stunning guitar part, which sets the accent back to the metal part of music. A lot more relaxed and perhaps the ballad of the album is I'm Bleeding, with Michele Luppi. A nice acoustic opening, with nods to Journey and melodic rock, show another side of Simone's songwriting. A stunning guitar solo does the rest. Nowadays continues with a massive riff and Roberto Tiranti's vocals. The combination of the acoustic guitar and the ultra-heavy electric axe creates a superb atmosphere, which lead toward a twin guitar part in the neo classical style. The vocals suit this song perfectly. The shortest song on the album, Touchin' My Enemy is Emiliano's third song and could be seen as a slow and relaxed opening for the album's closing song, Unexpected Gift. An song over ten minutes that only could go under the moniker of “epic”. Nicely built with layers of keyboards and guitar, the song grows to a perfect and powerful end-where Emiliano gets to sing his fourth song on a very pleasant album. I think Simone created something special, using six different vocalists on this album. All the songs have their own identity. Worlds In Collision is a great progressive metal album, but the use of those six vocalists could give you the impression, that you are listening to a compilation album, with bands highly regarded in the progressive and power metal scene. **** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Robert James Pashman) Where to buy? |
